For Stronger Glutes and Hamstrings, Smith Machine Good Mornings Are a Must

Smith machine good mornings are a simple, effective way to lock in your hip hinge while building serious strength through the posterior chain. Since the bar path is guided, Smith machine exercises are stable and consistent, which is a huge plus for home gym workouts.

Here's why and how you should add them to your fitness routine, along with variations to try and mistakes to avoid. 

What Is a Smith Machine Good Morning?

A Smith machine good morning is a hip-hinge exercise where the bar rests across your upper back while you hinge at the hips. The machine's fixed bar path makes it easier to dial in proper technique and correct form, so your spine is neutral and the movement crisp. 

This makes it a smart way to build posterior-chain strength and a practical substitute for barbell good mornings or Romanian deadlifts (RDLs). It’s especially useful in a home gym workout where you might not have a spotter, and stability and efficiency matter even more.

What Muscles Do Smith Machine Good Mornings Work?

Here’s a breakdown of the main muscles worked, plus the supporting cast that keeps the hinge strong and stable.

Primary Targets

• Hamstrings are the main focus here. They stay long and loaded during the hinge, controlling the descent and stabilizing the knees.
• Gluteus Maximus is the prime mover, driving hip extension to finish each rep.
• Erector Spinae serve as isometric anchors that keep the torso rigid and the spine neutral under load.

Supporting Muscles

• Core (obliques, transverse abdominis) provides a deep brace to resist flexion and keep pressure through the midsection.
• Calves (gastrocnemius/soleus) help stabilize the lower leg over the midfoot during the hinge.
• Upper Back and Lats lock the bar into position and maintain a consistent bar path.

How to Do Good Mornings on a Smith Machine with Proper Technique

Here’s a quick guide on the correct way to perform Smith machine good mornings. All you need is the machine; no extra equipment required. Start with a lighter load and add weight only when you can maintain neutral posture and consistent bar-over-midfoot tracking across all reps.

• Set the bar around mid-chest height so you can unrack it smoothly without standing on your toes.
• Step under the bar and rest it across your upper back, then hold it lightly with both hands.
• Unrack the bar by pressing up and turning it out of the safeties. Step your feet to hip- or shoulder-width, with your midfoot under the bar. If your Smith machine is angled, face the direction that keeps the bar stacked over the midfoot during the hinge.
• Take a deep breath, brace your core, and keep a neutral spine as you push your hips back. Let your torso lower until you feel tension in your hamstrings, usually when your torso is about 45 to 70 degrees forward.
• Drive your hips forward and squeeze your glutes to return to standing tall. Reset and repeat for reps.

Trainer Tip: Keep your shins nearly vertical and the bar stacked over your midfoot the entire time. This makes the hinge smooth, safe, and effective.

For more information on how to properly use the Smith machine for your workout, check out our Smith machine squat, deadlift, and hip thrust guides.

Smith Machine Good Morning Benefits

Smith machine good mornings are a simple yet effective exercise to add into the mix on leg day. They fire up your posterior chain, improve the hip hinge movement pattern, and can help you build strength. Here are some key benefits of this move:

Creates Well Balanced Training

Pairing them with knee-dominant lifts like squats or split squats helps balance your strength training program, reduces joint overload, and reinforces pulling power without adding unnecessary junk volume.

Posterior-Chain Strength

This hip-hinge exercise hits the hamstrings, gluteus maximus, and erector spinae, with the calves working isometrically and the core bracing hard. That combination makes Smith machine good mornings a reliable way to build strength and size through the backside.

Maximizes Hamstring Muscle Growth

Unlike many pulls, Smith machine good mornings keep the hamstrings under sustained tension with only a small knee bend. That combo of constant tension and deep stretch is especially effective for hypertrophy, as training at longer muscle lengths with a controlled tempo boosts mechanical stress, stimulates protein synthesis, and can equal or even surpass shorter-range work for building size.

A Tool for Cleaner Technique

With the bar path guided, you can focus on correct technique cues like keeping the bar stacked over midfoot, pushing the hips back, and holding a neutral spine. This makes it a great way to practice the hip hinge safely without worrying about bar drift.

Carryover to Deadlifts and RDLs

The good morning belongs to the hip-hinge family, right alongside Romanian deadlifts and conventional pulls. Training it in balance with knee-dominant lifts like squats and split squats supports overall leg development and stronger deadlifts over time.

Home-Gym Friendly

The Smith machine setup is stable, predictable, and easy to unrack, which makes it especially useful for solo training. You can also add pauses or tempo work to refine form and reinforce control at lighter loads.

Smith Machine Good Morning Common Mistakes

Here are the most common Smith machine good morning mistakes and how to correct them for perfect form.

Rounding the lower back: Dropping into lumbar flexion at the bottom piles stress onto the spine. Keep a neutral back, brace before each rep, and only hinge as far as you can hold with control. To fix, cut the range to where your back stays neutral, brace your core, and check your form with a side-view video.

Turning it into a squat: Too much knee bend shifts the hinge into squat territory. The goal is hamstring tension, not quad loading. Think “hips back, torso long,” and keep shins nearly vertical, bar over midfoot, and tension in the hamstrings.

Bar too high on the back: Parking the bar high across the neck tips the torso forward. A mid- to low-bar position across the traps or rear delts is usually more stable. Set the bar on a solid trap/rear delt shelf, pull the elbows in, and lock the lats down.

Standing too far forward or back: If the bar drifts off midfoot, the stance is off. On slanted or angled Smith machines, facing the wrong way exaggerates the problem. Be sure to line your midfoot under the bar, pause for two seconds at the bottom to feel balance, and adjust your stance or facing direction until the bar tracks over your laces.

Rushing weight jumps: Loading heavy before your form is locked in defeats the purpose. The goal is control, not chasing numbers. Use a 2-1-1 tempo (down–pause–up) at a light load. Once you can pause cleanly and match rep speed across sets, add 5–10 pounds to work with a safe progressive overload.

Smith Machine Variations and Modifications

Try out an alternative or variation of the Smith machine good morning to shift the muscles you target and utilize different pieces of equipment.

B-Stance Good Morning

Shift 70 to 80 percent of the load to your front leg and let the back foot act as a kickstand. This adds single-leg emphasis without major balance issues. 

How to: Set up normally, then slide one foot back 6 to 12 inches. From here, your weight should be on your front foot with the ball of your back foot supporting balance. Hinge to tension, keep hips square, and drive through the front heel.

Seated Good Morning

Sitting on a flat bench reduces balance demands and locks in the hinge, making it perfect for slower tempos and long hamstring stretches. 

How to: Take a seat with one leg on either side of a bench. Rest a barbell on your upper back, sit tall, and hinge forward until you feel strong tension in your hamstrings. Drive hips through to return.

Paused or Tempo Good Mornings

Adding a 1 to 2 second pause at the bottom, or using a 3-1-1 tempo, increases control and time under tension. 

How to: Follow the typical form of a good morning but use a lighter load. Lower for 2 to 3 seconds, hold at the bottom without losing your brace, then stand smoothly.

To-Pins Partials

Using the Smith safeties lets you limit depth, learn the hinge, or overload a specific range. 

How to: Set the safeties just above your end range. Lower the bar to a gentle stop, pause, then drive up without bouncing.

The Takeaway

Smith machine good mornings are one of the simplest ways to sharpen your hip hinge and strengthen the posterior chain while keeping form consistent. They're an excellent way to build hamstring muscle and strength safely at home. Just remember to start light, add pauses or tempo work to dial in technique, and only progress once every rep looks the same. Add this move to your routine and you'll be crushing PRs in no time.

FAQ

What muscles do good mornings work?

The main muscles worked are the hamstrings, gluteus maximus, and erector spinae. Your core gets involved as you brace, while the calves and upper back help stabilize the bar. Keep tension in the hamstrings at the bottom, then drive the hips through to finish tall.

Is a good morning better than an RDL?

Good mornings and RDLs serve different purposes. Good mornings keep hamstrings under steady tension at longer lengths with minimal knee bend. RDLs load the hinge with the bar in your hands and allow a bit more knee travel. The best choice depends on your goals, comfort, and equipment setup, or you can rotate both across a training block.

Is there a machine for good mornings?

Dedicated good morning machines exist but are rare. A Smith machine works perfectly for this exercise, giving you a guided bar path and consistent form. In a home gym, you can add the move with the Smith Machine Rack Attachment. For free-bar options, check out our barbells lineup. Or, if you prefer cables, the Ares 2.0 Builder lets you train a similar hinge with pull-throughs.

Rachel MacPherson is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach, and health writer with over a decade of experience helping people build strength and confidence through evidence-based training.

This article was reviewed by Aaron Varcasio, ISSA-CPT, NASM-CES, NASM-PES, NASM-BCS, NASM-YES, CrossFit Mobility and Rowing certified, USRowing Level 2 Coach, and USAW Level 1 Coach, and Rosie Borchert, NASM-CPT, for accuracy.